Investing.com - European markets opened higher on Tuesday, as investors were eyeing the release of a number of economic reports out of the euro zone.
The EURO STOXX 50 inched up 0.04%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.25%, while Germany’s DAX 30 was up 0.19% by 03:35 a.m. ET (07:35 GMT).
European equities were already boosted after German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday entered talks with a rival party in a last-ditch effort to form a coalition government after months of political uncertainty in the euro zone's largest economy.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lender BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) gained 0.51%, while Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) lost 1.08% and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) climbed 0.48% in Germany.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) added 0.14% and 0.24% respectively, while BBVA (MC:BBVA) edged up 0.18% and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) dipped 0.02% in Spain.
Elsewhere, Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) AG shares were down 0.52% after Nvidia Corp. said the German carmaker and Uber Technologies Inc. will be usine its artificial intelligence expertise to help bring self-driving cars to the roads.
Beiersdorf AG O.N. (DE:BEIG) added to losses with shares down 0.74% after the skincare reported a 5.7% increase in organic group sales in 2017, beating expectations for a 4 to 5% rise. The company also said it was optimistic for 2018.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 gained 0.32%, led by WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW), whose shares surged 3.83% after the grocer said its same-store sales climbed 2.8% during the holidays, beating estimates.
Mining stocks were also broadly higher on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) climbed 0.44% and Anglo American (LON:AAL) gained 0.66%, while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) advanced 0.79% and Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) jumped 1.03%.
Financial stocks added to gains, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) added 0.13% and Barclays (LON:BARC) rose 0.40%, while HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) gained 0.58% and 0.66% respectively.
Meanwhile, shares in Persimmon (LON:PSN) were down 1.42% even after the housebuilder said 2017 profits will be slightly above expectations as revenue incresed by 9%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.15% increase, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.5% uptick, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.07% rise.